Texas A&M Officially Tells Big 12 It Will Apply to Join Another Conference

The speculation over whether or not Texas A&M will leave the Big 12 is now officially over. Per this official release from the university, the Aggies have told the Big 12 that it will file an application to join another athletic conference.

The conference they will be applying for is the SEC. It is widely speculated that the schools’ presidents will vote them into the conference once all of the legal issues surrounding A&M’s departure are resolved.

Litigation is the only reason the conference didn’t vote to expand a couple of weeks ago.

The biggest issue to be resolved is the exit fee which is rumored to be between $15 and $20 million.

The negotiations should take some time and it is important to note that Texas A&M has not officially left the Big 12, they have only stated they will apply to another conference.

With a bye week next week, expect the official departure to occur either sometime late this week or early next week with an acceptance into the SEC in the following days.

For all of the supposed animosity between Texas A&M, the University of Texas and the Big 12, these proceedings have gone off very amicably.

Aggie president R. Bowen Loftin states in the release that there is no timeline in this application process but that he does not intend to prolong any of this for longer than necessary.

None of this is surprising to those who have been following the situation down in College Station.

Texas A&M had one foot out the door ever since the Big 12 nearly collapsed last year following the departure of Nebraska and Colorado to the Big 10 and Pac-12, respectively.

Many believe that the final straw for the Aggies was Texas’ formation of the Longhorn Network, an all University of Texas network supported by ESPN.

The university is clearly fed up with being perceived as second tier to Texas even though last year the Aggies had the most points of any Big 12 school in the Capital One Cup which ranks schools based on all of their performance in all sports.

Making this move will provide an immediate recruiting boost from a football perspective and will also bring a lot more money into the program through the SEC’s television deals with CBS and ESPN.

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